In 1960 President John F. Kennedy the man who was commemorated on this years Gold coin which was released at the ANA show in chicago had signed an embargo against the republic of cuba. This embargo made it illegal for americans to own any products from Cuba and it was illegal to export products to cuba except for food and medicine. My question is does this make owning Cuban currency and coins illegal for an American citizen? I want to begin a collection of Cuban currency and wanted to run it by all of you first. Am I able to own current issue cuban notes? or just those that were pre castro? What about coins?
I have never heard of anyone being prosecuted for owning Cuban currency. It is illegal to import it - but ownership is rather difficult for the authorities to go after unless they force venues like eBay to regulate the sale of Cuban, DPR Korea, and Iranian items. I believe making stuff like that illegal only forces the trade under the table and increases interests - rather like collecting counterfeits. And that is about all I will say.
So what if I wanted to start selling cuban pesos on my website? would I then be in trouble for selling/owning illegal merchandise?
Similar to the Cuban cigar post you made, yes, post-embargo coins/currency are illegal for a US Citizen (and possibly even permanent residents who aren't citizens) to possess.
Alright so if I wanted to collect pre castro cuban coins/currency I would be fine but anything after 1960 and I'm looking at 10 years imprisonment.
I seriously doubt you're looking at imprisonment , but obviously focusing on the pre-Castro material would be less problematic. And as far as coins are concerned (can't speak to currency) the pre-Castro era is much more interesting IMO.
